For more information, please contact:

Dr. Calvin Mercer
Director, Multidisciplinary Studies
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858 USA
252.328.4310 (office and voice mail)
252-328-6301 (fax)
mercerc@ecu.edu

[Religious Studies Program]
[The Monastic Project]
[Speaking Engagements]
[Study Abroad]

Dr. Mercer teaches religious studies at East Carolina University, where he recently received a university "Scholar- Teacher" award. Most of his research (4 books authored or edited, 25 articles) is in religion and culture and biblical studies, with an emphasis on the role of the Bible in modern culture. His current projects include the following.

FUNDMENTALISM. He is trained in clinical psychology and practiced professionally part-time for over a decade. He was known as the "go-to" therapist for clients where religion was a factor in their mental distress and/or behavioral dysfunction. In both his teaching and clinical practice, he has worked extensively with fundamentalists. He gives public lectures on this topic based on his recent book, Slaves to Faith: A Therapist Looks Inside the Fundamentalist Mind. With a foreword by Martin Marty, the book provides a novel - and controversial - psychological analysis of fundamentalism.

RADICAL LIFE EXTENSION. Dr. Mercer is one of the few scholars considering the religious implications of radical life extension, a term that refers to science and technology that could provide extreme (perhaps indefinite) longevity of healthy human life. His co-edited book, Religion and the Implications of Radical Life Extension, is forthcoming in Fall 2009 by Palgrave Macmillan. Mercer is a founding member and first chair of the American Academy of Religion "Transhumanism and Religion" consultation. Whether such science should proceed or not is a legitimate question, and Dr. Mercer wants to promote reflection on the question that stems from progressive religion that has no presumptive bias against science.

THE MONASTIC PROJECT. Dr. Mercer is the originator of The Monastic Project, a comprehensive program used by professors around the country that speaks to a deep yearning many people have for substantive religious experience that goes deeper, offers more, and requires more than either fundamentalism or the easy, quick, sensual froth offered up by much contemporary religion. The Monastic Project, with guidelines drawn from various monastic traditions, yields results transformative beyond religious experience, such as improved mental and physical health, clarification of life goals and purpose, improved relationships, increased awareness, and better sleep.

Dr. Mercer's speaking engagements include public lectures on fundamentalism, the religious implications of radical life extension science, and The Monastic Project.